THERE are few climbing areas in North America where climbers can step from their cars and almost immediately rope up fo.r technical ascents. Some rock climbing centers and a few peaks qualify. But most mountaineering involves a long backpack to establish a high camp from which the peak itself can be climbed in one day.
Besides technical climbing skills, considerable information and preparation go into successful ascents of big peaks. The full scope of a complete mountain ascent and descent can be roughly divided into several stages: planning, preparation, approach and high camp, ascent, descent to camp, and packing out.
Detailed planning of all phases of a climb is important to safety, success, and enoyment. An inexperienced member of an experienced party, whether it be club or private enterprise, may not realize the amount of planning done before a climb. Experienced members in charge have often made so many ascents that the planning they do is automatic and inconspicuous. One reason for laying plans is the interrelationship of many aspects of a climb; another is to make sure that everyone has everything along that will be really needed.
Selection of Peek and Route
The decision of what to climb is based on a number of things, including accessibility, the time available, whim, suitability, and appeal for the particular climbers. The choice is sometimes made because the area is new or is a favorite. Details not already known can be learned from other climbers, climbers’ guidebooks, and Forest Service and topographical maps. Except for miles of backpacking, climbers seldom refer to distances. Pertinent statistics are given in elevations, elevation gains, and approximate hours.
Selection of Climbing Party
Club climbs are usually scheduled long ahead of time, and supervised by leaders who are familiar with the area and who have the knowledge and authority to limit participation to those qualified. Such regulations are based on safety. Requirements differ from club to club, and are fairly flexible; if you are new in a group, inquire. Leaders of club climbs are chosen for their ability to make decisions and cope with problems. Under such tutelage, an interested novice can gain experience quickly and safely.
Private climbing parties should apply similar though informal principles in their own choice of personnel. They have more leeway, in that they can tailor the party to suit the climb – or the climb to suit the experience and physical fitness of the party.
The traditional number to provide a margin of safety is a minimum of three or four. Too large a group may be awkward to keep track of, and dangerous on routes where loose rock is common. A party of two, or a solo climber, must accept and compensate for the risks of having no back-up party. They should stay within their established climbing abilities, and exercise a high degree of caution and care. The disadvantages of a small number are at times offset by the pleasures of privacy and solitude. or the speed and efficiency of a well-matched pair.
Choice of Clothing and Climbing Equipment
When information has been assembled about approach and climb, clothing and needed climbing equipment can be selected. Clothing for high mountain ascents, even on rock routes, will be similar to that listed under snow and ice climbing because of temperatures and weather conditions at high elevations. Mountaineering boots are usually essential, and are customarily worn on rock in preference to carrying kletterschuhe to remote areas.
Ropes. pitons, and carabiners are “group” items, and the weight should be parceled out. One summit pack for at least every two people is minimum. Hammers, ice axes, and crampons are individual responsibilities. If you are not sure what you should take. ask. In choosing equipment, keep in mind that at high elevations, or in poor weather, routes are more difficult than they are at sea level. It will not do to run short on things you really need, but climbing gear is so heavy that you cannot take an unlimited amount of it “just in case.”
Much of the planning and preparation involves the same problems whether the outing is for two days or two weeks. But the farther the climbers go from civilization and the longer they intend to stay, the more they need certain things. These include the knowledge and equipment to avoid trouble, or to cope with it if it comes.
Accidents in the mountains are rare among mountaineers who understand and cater to their environment and their own abilities. Dangers which are environmental are considered “ objective” dangers: storms, lightning, crevasses, falling rocks, and other natural conditions over which the climber has no direct control. Hazards created at least in part by the climber himself are called “subjective” dangers: poor judgment, overconfidence, slips, inadequate preparation, lack of proper physical conditioning, illness, and the like. Learning over a period of time to understand, forecast, avoid, or deal with potential hazards greatly increases the safety and satisfaction of mountaineering.
Several specific things not already mentioned can be done at home to increase your competence on trips. Be sure to:
(1) Keep in good physical condition.
(2) Study first aid, with particular attention to lacerations, bleeding, head and spinal injuries, dislocations, broken bones, frostbite, and shock.
(3) Learn at least rudimentary techniques for rescues. Many climbing clubs arrange or give instruction and practice in rescue techniques.
Safety Precalutions on Trips
In connection with specific trips and general attitudes for all trips in the mountains, the following additional points are suggested for helping to keep out of trouble:
(1) For each trip, leave detailed word of your itinerary and the latest possible time of return with someone who will really notice if you do not come back. Write down the information, including the name of a climbing friend, ranger station, or sheriff to notify. Those at home should never really worry if a party is a few hours or even a day overdue, as minor delays are common.
(2) Have extra supplies in the car: water, food, and spare clothing and shoes.
(3) Carry first aid supplies. Since the personnel of your climbing group varies from trip to trip, have your own and make sure a kit is carried on your rope. It should be stocked with mild antiseptic; aspirin and salt tablets; codeine or other pain-killing drugs prescribed by a physician; adhesive tape, gauze bandages, and sterile gauze pads; a single-edge razor blade or a small pair of scissors that cut; elastic bandage for sprains, and a splint (at least above timberline). The most compact and adaptable type of splint is made of hardware cloth; it must be well padded in use. Waterproof matches, pencil, paper, and safety pins might be added.
(4) Make it a habit to notice your surroundings (and companions) .
(5) Use common sense. In bad weather, stay in camp or turn back from a climb when it becomes obvious that you should.
(6) If you suddenly or gradually feel absurdly listless, or nauseated, at elevations from about 10,000 feet on up, suspect altitude sickness, which is caused by shortage of oxygen. It may be cured by rest, deep breathing, and a little easily digested food. A “motion sickness” drug seems to help some people. Recovery may be spontaneous and quick, or not arrive until you descend. Keep in good physical condition as an aid to prevention. A sudden dry cough with no apparent cause may be the beginning of the rare but serious pulmonary edema. Breathing difficulty may follow. The victim should be assisted to a lower elevation at once.
(7) In minor accidents, make every effort to help yourself, or to assist a member of your party, rather than calling for help. For instance, a person with a .broken arm might easily walk out after splinting it, resting, and taking a pain-killer, if others carry his pack. Outside rescue is time-consuming, expensive, and if unneeded, is an imposition on others.
Trouble the Party Cannot Cope with
If you think self-rescue may compound an injury, or if a major accident occurs, you must get outside help. Keep your head; the first thing to do in an accident is to figure out how to help the injured person if it can be done. Get him to a safe place. Give him first aid. Try to keep any open wound clean. Someone must go for help, even if the victim is dead. The fastest assistance will come if there are other climbers in the vicinity. Cliinbing parties usually are alert to trouble on another rope nearby. Otherwise, contact a ranger station or sheriff’s office. Those going for help must use care, especially if they are quite upset. Complete information (preferably written down so none of it is forgotten) should cover the location of the accident, the condition of the victim, and what help is needed. In most major climbing areas, there are nearby volunteer or official rescue groups who have the manpower, training, and experience to respond quickly and efficiently . Helicopters are frequently used to speed rescue, and radios to correlate all operations.
As to the victim, bend all efforts toward keeping him alive until help comes. If he must be left alone on steep terrain, tie him on very securely. It is much better not to leave an injured or disabled person all alone, as his judgment is often impaired. If the party is large enough. get a sleeping bag for him from camp. Provide water and food. Try to keep up his morale; it may be a long wait. Mishaps that might be easily dealt with under city conditions are often greatly magnified by the time and distance before help can arrive in the mountains.
Camping equipment for long rugged trips must be light and sturdy, and kept to a minimum. Things really needed are discussed.
Packframe
Any old packboard will do for initial trips, but do not try to carry a heavy load in a rucksack. A well-designed packframe is needed for frequent pack-ins. The best are of tubular aluminum, with nylon fittings, and a waist strap that permits a balanced load supported largely on the hips. Climbers of your acquaintance can recommend a good brand which will serve your needs. It will be expensive but durable. Choose the right size for your build. It should be fitted with a goodsized sack that will hold a big load and has outer pockets for things needed on the trail.
Sleeping Bag
Nights in climbing camps are often cold. A good down bag is the only kind that is sufficiently warm, light, and compact. A medium-priced bag with two to three pounds of prime goose down (color unimportant) will keep you warm. A mummy-case design that tapers at head and foot makes the most efficient use of the down. You may prefer a more roomy bag with a drawstring at the top, but it must be long enough to cover your head. The lightest material for the casing is rip-stop nylon. Seams should be oi box or overlapping-tube construction, not sewn through. The zipper should be heavy duty, and insulated with a baffle. Sleeping bags are usually crammed into stuff bags for backpacking, and should be shaken up well before use on cold nights. They should be stored loose between trips to keep the down fluffy.
Mattress
To save weight, you can sleep directly on the ground (except, of course, for a ground sheet). If you wish comfort while saving time and trouble, take a mattress. Two feet by four feet is big enough; clothing and equipment go under head and feet. Air mattresses are resilient and compact, but often leak. A pad of plastic foam such as urethane, an inch and a half thick, or thinner if one can be found, is very comfortable. The material is absorbent and should have a waterproof cover; it is light but somewhat bulky. Ensolite pads about a quarter or a half inch thick are waterproof, compact, and excellent insulation (for sleeping on snow, for instance) , but are not very soft.
Shelter
Climbers usually take along some sort of shelter, no matter how sketchy. A plastic tube about nine feet long and three feet in diameter can be pitched anywhere you can rig a ridgeline. Equipment or rounded stones placed inside hold down the edges. Its main disadvantage is condensation inside. Another lightweight type of shelter is made from a coated nylon tarp, or a sheet of plastic such as a painter’s drop cloth. It should be about nine by twelve feet. Do not forget cord for pitching.
A lightweight tent with a rain fly is desirable or necessary in areas and seasons of heavy precipitation and cold wind. A tent also keeps out insects and affords privacy. A good backpacking tent is a considerable monetary investment, and should be selected with care. Consult other tent owners about how satisfactory theirs have been as to water repellency, material, and design. Never buy a tent without first pitching it yourself (it may be a hopelessly awkward procedure). Consider size, shape, weight, height, poles, etc., in the light of your own preferences.
Except for one-man tubes, shelters are onsidered group equipment to save weight; such arrangements are made before a trip.
Various miscellaneous items should be taken on every trip. Some should be carried by each climber, in his pack or his pockets, and some are considered group equipment.
Individual Miscellany
This includes dark glasses or goggles; pocketknife; sunburn preventive and lip salve; insect repellent; cheap pocket watch (climbing is hard on wrist watches); toilet paper (in pocket and pack – lots); handkerchief; band-aids; things for taping up sore spots on feet (adhesive tape, moleskin, and lamb’s wool to protect blisters); needle, thread, and safety pins; toilet articles (toothbrush, comb, metal or other small mirror, towel, soap; and for women, some et ceteras); personal prescription drugs.
Group or Individual Miscellany
These articles may be individual or community equipment, according to wish and weights: camera and film; route information; maps and compass; flashlight with alkali batteries (reverse one battery to prevent drain of juice if the switch is accidentally turned on in the pack); plastic or aluminum water bottle; folding pocket cup (sometimes you cannot get at water without one); pencil and paper; first aid kit.
Climbers often like to cook individually, except on longer trips where several may cook together to save the weight of duplicate equipment. Supplies are about the same either way, except that the size of the pots has to be adapted to the number they serve. A one-quart and a quart-and-a-half size are about right for two or three. Keep dishes to a minimum.
Necesssry Cooking Equipment
Pots, two (cheap aluminum kettles, with metal or bail handles – or use a gripper); covers, one or two (they hasten cooking, and can double as frying pans or plates); wooden matches (some in waterproof container in pocket, many in pack); cups, one apiece (aluminum, enamel, or plastic) ; spoons, one apiece (dessert or tablespoon size); rags or paper towels (to use as pot holders, dish towels, etc.).
Optional Cooking Equipment
Can opener, midget G.I. or roll type; cloth sack for sooty pots; fire-starting aids (newspapers, candle, chemical fuel tablets); container for carrying water a long distance to camp (collapsible plastic water bottle or large canteen); stove, one-burner pressure type; extra fuel for stove (liquid fuel must be carried in a special can with filters and a tight cap).
Stoves versus Fires
Whether to cook on a stove or over a wood fire depends on camping conditions and personal preference. Wood saves weight, is in keeping with the surroundings, and if camp is below timberline is the obvious choice. If you plan on open fires, find out beforehand from the Forest Service if a fire permit is required. Climbers never carry a woodsman’s axe, but rely on dead wood (sometimes ridiculously scarce in much-used campsites). Build your fire on sand or rock (not on humus), and well away from logs and trees. Construct a simple rock fireplace just wide enough so the pots can span the rocks, and just high enough to allow a good draft without raising the pans out of reach of the flames. A quite small fire is adequate for cooking.
Take a small one-burner stove, if the weather is apt to be cold and wet; if you want to cook in the tent; if you don’t like to fool with fires or get your pots sooty; to help insure a hot breakfast and a quick start on climbing mornings; and, of course, if you plan to camp above timberline. Several brands and types of stoves are sold in mountaineering shops. Consider weight, screening from wind, likelihood of tipping over, and apparent ease of lighting. Some burn white (unleaded) gasoline, some kerosene, and some butane gas in cylinders (convenient, but troublesome in cold weather). Extra fuel m ust usually be carried. Keep gasoline and kerosene away from the food in the pack (their flavor lacks taste-appeal). Be sure you can operate the stove before you try it at high camp. When it has not been used for some time, check it to see if it still works. One small stove can cook efficiently for only three or four at the very most.
Food is the one thing you take that increases in amount for every day away from a source of supply. For this reason and others it must be chosen with care. Climbing leaves scant time and energy for cooking – and even scant interest in it when appetites grow delicate with altitude and exhaustion. High camp conditions frequently fall short of ideal for meal preparation, what with crotchety fires or stoves, skimpy fuel supplies, icy water, cold wind, and low boiling points (water boils at 198 degrees at 7500 feet, at 194 degrees at 10,000 feet, etc.). Although an occasional enthusiast declares that climbing and gourmet cooking can and should co-exist, they usually do not.
Types and Amounts of Food to Take
Take food you like. Make sure it is quick and simple to prepare and eat. It should be largely dehydrated, concentrated in bulk and food value, durable, and proof against spoilage. Cooking time roughly doubles with every 5000 feet of elevation, but anything supposed to cook at a “simmer” in a few minutes ought to be satisfactory. Include foods that can be eaten uncooked in an emergency, or just warmed up.
Individual needs vary as to daily amounts of food. Teenagers and other bottomless eaters can consume two or more pounds of concentrated, dehydrated foods per man-day, and still be ravenously hungry. Light eaters can perhaps get by on one pound per man-day. Average eaters find a pound and a half satisfactory, or at least all they want to carry.
If you want to know how many calories this amount of concentrated food will provide, you can figure it out roughly by allowing 200 calories per ounce for foods that are mostly fat, and 100 calories per ounce for foods that are mostly proteins and carbohydrates. More important, perhaps, is how your digestive system reacts to them. Some fat is desirable, but it often seems hard to digest under climbing conditions. Proteins digest more readily than fats, and “stick to the ribs” longer than carbohydrates. Carbohydrates (starch and sugar) are easiest to digest and provide quick energy. Among suitable climbing foods, about 20 per cent of the calories should come from fats, 30 to 40 per cent from proteins, and 40 to 50 per cent from carbohydrates (most foods are a mixture). This proportion will provide roughly 4500 calories in two pounds of food for backpacking. An active person needs between 3000 and 5000 calories a day. It hardly seems worth figuring out for a few days. Forget calories, consider total weights, take a few vitamin pills if you want to, and eat heartily when you get back home.
Menu Planning and Groceries
For short trips of two or three days, take anything you want to, as long as you are sure it will not subject you to food poisoning. For longer trips, detailed pre-planning of meals and a little rationing on the trip are necessary to be reasonably sure the food will come out even. Make a l ist of prospective campsites and the elevations. Consider the method of cooking, the activities planned, the personal tastes and the appetite of each person. Make out a menu for every single meal. From the menu list, make your grocery list. Include plenty of salt, as you may crave salt to replace that lost through body dehydration. Take a little extra food for emergencies. Keep your lists (with notations added after the trip) for future reference. Satisfactory meals for climbing trips can be made up from the following suggestions.
Breakfasts. Start active days with small breakfasts. Large ones are time-consuming to prepare, and most climbers find a full stomach a serious liability. A satisfactory climbing breakfast can include stewed fruit (cooked the day before); cold or “instant” hot cereal, with sugar and dried milk; a hot beverage such as cocoa, instant coffee, or tea bags boiled for a few minutes (purists may shudder, but remember that at high elevations the traditional “full rolling boil” is hardly as hot, as sea-level steeping). Provide a few hearty, timeconsuming breakfasts for days in camp – dried scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes and brown-sugar syrup.
Lunches. Instead of one large lunch, eat a series of snacks all day long on trail or climb. Keep some lunch food in your pocket, so you can eat when you want to. Lunch foods are usually bread or crackers, cheese, hard sausage, jerky, nuts, raisins, fig bars, candy (some hard – lemon drops are good), and lemonade mix or instant iced tea. Some climbers put everything (except the beverages) all together in a sack and let it integrate.
Dinners. Quickest and easiest to cook and eat are one-pot concoctions. Start with an appropriate amount of water. Add a dried soup mix for flavor, and thickening and nutritional agents as desired or available: macaroni, cheese, sausage, potato powder, canned meat or fish, instant rice, chipped beef, noodles, margarine, and seasonings. Many of these ingredients can be served separately for variety, or eaten as-is when cooking becomes impossible. Dried fruits, well sweetened, can be cooked after the main meal, and it is just as well to cook some up for a few meals ahead. Cookies make good desserts. Margarine, which keeps better than butter, contributes the day’s fat. More complicated dinners can be fixed on rest days; try out some of the freeze-dried vegetables and meats (what a miracle to see pieces of cardboard turn into beefsteaks and pork chops!), make instant puddings, etc.
Where to Buy Climbing Foods
Suitable foods can be obtained from several sources. Sporting goods stores carry well-packaged dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. (Some of these can also be ordered through the mail.) Dehydrated scrambled eggs and freezedried meats are not readily available elsewhere. Most other foods of this type are easy to find at supermarkets, and are less expensive there. Modern supermarkets carry a wide variety of dehydrated food; just look for it. It may be easier to find the “dry” cheeses that resist melting in special cheese stores, but any natural cheese is satisfactory (processed cheeses spoil). Usually only bakeries sell unsliced bread, which stays fresh longer and usually holds together better than sliced.
Repackaging and Protecting Food
After buying the food, repackage it. Commercial containers are often bulky and heavy but give little protection. Plastic sacKs closed with string or rubber bands protect food from moisture. Label the bags as to contents, and put in any needed directions. Margarine can be carried in a screw-top can. Food already put up in plastic bags or foil envelopes should be kept that way, but grouped inside plastic sacks. Cereals, powdered coffee, salt, and sugar may need an inner cloth sack to prevent disaster in case of a puncture. While you are on the move, it is handy to have the food sorted by meals. For camp, it is usually adequate to bag things by category.
In camp, food needs some extra care. Things that should be kept cool can be placed in the shade, immersed in the stream, or buried in snow. Put a good rock on a covered kettle of food. Plastic sacks are theoretically rainproof, but they often develop holes and should be stored under the shelter when you leave camp. High-elevation rodents such as ground squirrels, pikas, and porcupines may ignore your food or just love it. If depredations are severe, put all food in a stuff bag and hang it as high as you can. If bears are around, hang it very high. You might need it more than they do.
The number of things to take, for high camp and climb, seems a little overwhelming at first, but it all consolidates. To insure remembering everything, keep a detailed list. Check your list before every trip. You can’t believe until it happens how easily you can forget the most obvious things (boots, matches, sleeping bag). To simplify trip preparation, store as much gear as you can in the same place. Time is saved if packs are made up as completely as possible at home.
Backpacking Pace
Start up the trail slowly; your second wind will come, and the pack may even seem lighter after a while. You cannot dawdle on long approaches, but to hurry is folly. You can go only as fast as lungs and legs permit- a speed that varies from person to person and depends on such factors as physical condition, trail condition, and elevation. The most efficient pace is one you can maintain fo hours with an
occasional pause to get your breath and a few longer rests to eat, drink, and enjoy the view. Excessively long rests waste time and make it hard to re-establish an efficient pace. A determined slogging will take you farther, sooner, than spurts and collapses. Keep your mind on the surroundings instead of on sore feet.
Terrain Problems on the Approach
A trail is the easiest approach, and sometimes goes clear to high camp. Don’t leave it until you must. At some point, the party usually takes off across rough, steep, cross-country going. From here on, keep in touch with each other. Take the most open, brush-free route you can find. Cross streams wi th caution. Look for narrow places that can be safely jumped, stepping stones, log bridges, or broad shallow fords. Wading in your boots is safer than going barefoot. If the stream is dangerous, the first and last men must be roped; other members can cross with either a fixed handline or a belay. If you do not have an ice axe with you, use a strong pole for balance. Glacier streams are lower in the mornings than in the afternoons.
Reaching Selected Campsite
On a three-day trip, the first day is usually spent packing in, the second climbing, and the third packing out. On longer trips, several days may be devoted to backpacking. In either case, the selected campsite is a fairly inflexible goal. For a particular climb, it may be a traditional spot. For a new route or seldom-made ascent, the general camping location is chosen for its proximity to the climb. Study maps, calculate route length and difficulty, consult others, and inspect the terrain from a distance; then find the exact place on arrival.
High Camp Requisites
Basic requirements for a climbing camp are few – just water, sleeping spots, and fuel if you are counting on firewood.
Water, of course, is necessary. A stream, lake, or tarn is best, even if the water must be carried some distance. A trickle or drip from a snowbank can be collected in pots. The source may freeze up overnight, so fill all containers in the afternoon or evening (and on freezing nights take the canteen to bed). Snow can be melted over the fire, but this takes time, toil, and fuel. Sometimes liquid is manufactured during daylight hours by spreading snow on a dark poncho; but alas, the results are not water, only poncho juice.
Sleeping sites have to be found where the shelter or tent can be set up. For individual beds, a very small flat spot is adequate; for several to use the same shelter, a bigger place is needed. Flat places can be enlarged by building up edges and leveling humps. Remove major rocks· from the bed. Give attention to drainage, both natural and by ditching. Your axe is a splendid digging and prying tool, but don’t break the handle. The location of your bedsite may help you keep warm. Look for a spot which is a little above streams and meadows and a little sheltered on the uphill side, since cold air flows downhill. A built-up or natural windbreak is helpful, and dry ground is warmer than wet (although sleeping on snow is more comfortable than it sounds). To erect tubes or shelters, string a ridge line from boulders or trees. Shelters can be put up in a multitude of designs. Tie the corners and sides firmly to rocks or bushes. If there are no grommets, tie the cords tightly around little bunches of the plastic. Pitch shelters tautly to cut down on their whipping in the wind. Plastic will cut easily, and cuts should be mended promptly with adhesive tape. It is easier to pitch a tent above timberline than a shelter, as poles eliminate the need for other support. A tent is warm enough so that meadow camping is feasible. Frequent readjustment of all shelters is necessary to keep them tightly pitched.
Firewood is often available among the scattered trees found well above the real forest. Scattered bits of wood are all you need to cook with, and burn well when dry. In wet weather, fires can be slow and time-consuming, and require much craftiness and blowing. Hunt for dry wood under logs or rocks, and use dead dry branches hanging on trees. Margarine, bacon grease, pitch, and any litter made of rubber (such as old tennis shoes) are supplementary fire starters.
After an arduous approach, you are now established in an austere, beautiful high camp. All this, and heaven too: you will climb tomorrow.